Bernie Wrote:
"A teacher told us about what the mechanics had said to a friend of his:
"No wonder your car doesn't work as it should - it isn't patched", they
applied some patch for some program in it and voila it worked again. I
guess things have changed since the "good old days", right?"
Yes they have! I was in the auto repair industry during the early years of
computer integration into the automotive field. Early attempts were not
very reliable due to the unfriendly environment that the electronic
components were subjected to under the hood of the car (that's under the
bonnet to the folks in the U.K.:-)
Diagnosis and repair was also pretty primitive. You used a process of
elimination - check everything else and if all the other components checked
out - replace the computer module. A little later the diagnostic equipment
came into the picture (most shops were not ready to pay $50,000 for an
electronic diagnostic machine). But eventually the diagnostic equipment
became a necessity as more and more cars were equipped with electronic
ignition and control modules.
Although I'd had some computer experience in high school, the introduction
of the shop diagnostic computer was the pivotal point for me. From then on
I focused more on the digital revolution happening under the hood. Finally
I got out from under the hood all together and now (12 years later) work as
a software administrator for a manufacturing company. But you know what?
The years I spent working on cars taught me a lot about problem solving and
diagnostic routines.
Computers in cars work the same as the computer on your desk - only the
input and output devices are different. On cars the in put in via sensors
and the output in via motors and switches.
Yeah, I think it's pretty neat that to enhance the performance of a car now
- you just plug in a new chip.
Bet my Altheon can beat your Pentium - wanna drag? <G>
Dave
To unsubscribe from SURVPC send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with
unsubscribe SURVPC in the body of the message.
Also, trim this footer from any quoted replies.
More info can be found at;
http://www.softcon.com/archives/SURVPC.html
